Dejian Ren

There are two current research areas in the lab: 1) regulation of excitability of the brain, 2) biology of endosomes and lysosomes. Both of the areas focus on the functional contributions of ion channel proteins. Please see lab website for details, https://web.sas.upenn.edu/ren-lab/.

Excitability of the brain: The brain uses electrical signals to control essentially every aspect of our life: from breathing to walking and intellectual reasoning. A major focus in the lab is on the molecular mechanisms by which neuronal excitability and the associated heterogeneity in brain regions are regulated. Along this line, we discovered the NALCN-UNC80-UNC79 protein complex that forms the major sodium-leak channel through which extracellular ions (Na+ and Ca2+) and neuropetides regulate neuronal excitability. Mutations in the complex lead to severe intellectual disability.

Organelle biology: A hallmark of eukaryotic cells is the separation of cellular functions in membrane-bound organelles in the cytosol. Intracellular membranes constitute >90% of total cell membrane, but their properties are generally less well defined in comparison with plasma membrane. We use biophysical, biochemical, structural and genetic approaches to define the biophysical properties and physiological roles of endosomal and lysosomal membrane proteins.